Friday, January 23, 2009

The third eye (also known as the inner eye) is a mystical and esoteric concept referring in part to the ajna (brow) chakra in certain Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. It is also spoken of as the gate that leads within to inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness.

In New Age spirituality, the third eye may alternately symbolize a state of enlightenment or the evocation of mental images having deeply-personal spiritual or psychological significance. The third eye is often associated with visions, clairvoyance, precognition, and out-of-body experiences, and people who have allegedly developed the capacity to use their third eyes are sometimes known as seers.

Physical basis: the pineal gland?

Some researchers, including Rick Strassman, have suggested that the third eye is in fact the partially dormant pineal gland, which resides between the two hemispheres of the brain. This concept is supported by the pinealocytes, one type of cells within the pineal gland, having a strong resemblance to the photoreceptors of the eye.

Additionally, the pineal gland is said to excrete dimethyltryptamine (DMT) [3], which induces dreams, near-death experiences, meditation, or hallucinations. Various types of lower vertebrates, such as reptiles and amphibians, can actually sense light via a third parietal eye—a structure associated with the pineal gland—which serves to regulate their circadian rhythms. - wikipedia

The video below goes into more depth about what the connection between the pineal gland and the more esoteric claims of the third eye.

Does the word secret actually come from the word secretion?

Does the understanding of secrets depend on the secretion of the pineal gland?

Watch this video to learn the answers.

Now that you have watched the video, what do you think?

Is the pineal gland the third eye which so many esoteric schools speak of?